By the Toll of the Clock
by BonesDoUrden
Summary: A Snape/Hermione one-shot. Hermione's parents have been dead for years and now she's having flashbacks of living with none other than Snape himself when she was very young. Not necessarily compliant with the HP universe.


"Miss Granger," he snapped and she stiffened in her seat, every pair of eyes in the drafty dungeon class room focused on her and her strange outburst.

"I… Sorry, Professor." her head bowed over her parchment again and with a glare at the rest of the room, her classmates followed suit, allowing him to continue teaching. Severus wasn't quite so lenient when she disrupted the class again, this time with a tiny gasp.

"Are you ill, Granger?"

"I- I don't…" she trailed off, slowly looking up to meet his thunderous black eyes, "I suppose I might be, Sir…"

"Then escort yourself to the infirmary post haste, before I lose my patience." Needless to say, Granger was gone faster than he could have uttered the words '_Avada Kedavra_' in her general direction. True, he hadn't always found her _quite_ so annoying… but that had been what, a good twelve years ago? Ah, but those had been some truly defining moments of his life. Okay, back then, it had seemed like the longest three years of his life, but in looking back on it, Severus decided it hadn't been _so_ terrible… Definitely better than teaching.

—X—

"'Mione, what in Merlin's name was up with you today in Potions?" Ron confronted her in the common room that afternoon after classes. Or, at least, he _tried_ to confront her. Hermione was off in another world, her mind sucked into yet another snippet of a foreign memory involving—it couldn't possibly be, could it?—none other than the snarky Potions Master himself.

"Huh? What?" she finally came to after several wads of parchment collided with the side of her bushy mass of curls.

"Are you okay, 'Mione?"

"I'm fine, Harry. I guess I'm just really stressed over the upcoming exams, you know?"

He sort of nodded, which Hermione took as an '_I guess so, Hermione, if it'll make you feel better, since you and I both know that Ron and I have absolutely no intention of studying at all… As usual._' Yup. Those were her best friends. Two Quidditch addicts who couldn't give an owl's beak about anything other than Quidditch and girls. Hermione looked at Harry, then at Ron and sighed quietly to herself… She needed new friends.

"I'm going to go down to the library and look something up for my Herbology essay." she stated suddenly, snapping her book shut and pushing it into her bag, which she slung over her shoulder as she strode from the room quickly.

"_Sevvie, are mummy and daddy gonna come home?"_

"_I don't see why they wouldn't, Hermione."_

"_What if they don't?"_

_He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, then quickly wiped the obvious look of annoyance from his face as he tried to appease her, "Why wouldn't they? Why would they leave their…darling daughter with no intentions of coming back?"_

_She sighed too, clearly not understanding half of what he said, "I guess, Sevvie… Can I has a kitty?"_

"_**Have**__," he gently corrected, "'Can I __**have**__ a kitty?' …And I'll think about it."_

_She grinned._

Hermione raked her fingers through her frizzy curls, headed in the direction of the dungeons, instead of the library as she'd told her friends. Hopefully they wouldn't go looking for her. She hesitated before knocking on the closed door and hesitated again when his gruff "Come in," answered.

"Um, Professor?" she asked softly, standing in the open doorway, the doorknob still clutched in her hand.

"What do you want, Miss Granger?"

She cleared her throat nervously, "Uh… I've been having these weird, flashback like things happening the last few days and I was wondering…"

One of his eyebrows rose slowly, whether out of idle curiosity or annoyance, Hermione couldn't tell, "And this concerns me, how?"

"Well… You're- You're in them, Sir. And I was wondering if they're real memories or not…"

—X—

He sighed and stood up, both palms pressed flat against his desk, "Yes, Hermione, they're real memories… You were in my care for three years following your parents' death."

She looked at him, bewildered and thankfully, she could find nothing to say for many minutes, likely trying to decide which of her millions of questions she was going to ask first. But then she did the one thing he least expected her to do; she dropped her book laden bag to the floor and Severus nearly jumped when a pair of arms and a bushy mass of curls collided with his side, the former hugging his waist tightly while the latter completely obscured the girl's face. "I know it's terribly inadequate, but thank you…"

Hesitantly, Severus patted the top of her head, wishing she would detach herself from him, "Don't thank me, Miss Granger, as I was only following the Headmasters' orders."

She stepped away slowly, twisting a lock of her hair around her finger awkwardly, "Well um, thanks, for clearing that up for me, in any case… I'll try my best to not let my flashbacks disrupt class anymore…"

"I'd be much obliged," he grumbled and sank back into his chair, "…Goodnight, Miss Granger."

"Good- Goodnight… Sevvie." her hand flew up to cover her mouth at the slip and left the room in a flash, the door slamming shut behind her.

Severus waited a moment, to make sure she was really gone, before he allowed himself to smile fondly and pulled open a drawer of his desk to retrieve the crude drawing hiding at the bottom… He hadn't realized just how much he missed that name.

"_I'm convinced that he's fallen off his rocker this time," a much younger Severus complained, his whining black eyes fixed on Minerva._

"_And why might that be, my dear?" she asked passively, more distracted by the three year old girl in her lap than worried about an eighteen year olds complaints._

_He pushed his hair out of his eyes before gesturing to himself, "Minerva, look at me. I'm eighteen, just barely begun my work as a double-spy and other than Dumbledore, you're the only one who even remotely trusts me! You can't seriously expect me capable of caring for a child, even if it's only temporary… Have I mentioned that I'm an eighteen year old double-spy slowly being worked to death by the world's two most powerful wizards?"_

_She sighed and looked up at him, "Severus, she just lost both her parents to a Death Eater attack, she has no family and besides, you're the least busy of the lot of us, at least until Abigail completes her work in Russia."_

_He cringed at the mention of the Death Eaters and sighed heavily, dropping into the arm chair in front of the roaring fire place. The room was relatively quiet, save for the occasional apparently happy gurgle from the little bushy haired toddler on Minerva's lap and Severus rubbed his temples slowly, feeling the beginnings of a migraine coming on. As much as he didn't want to admit it, she had a point. He was, by far, the least busy at the moment out of all the members of the Order, mostly because he'd only been a member about six months and was currently engrossed in his own personal studies and in being a double-spy._

"_I think it will be a good experience for you, Severus. And it will keep you busy so you're not constantly moping about with your nose in a potions book." Minerva said softly and he jumped, having not noticed her get up and walk over to him, the little Muggle-born girl asleep in her arms. "Unfortunately, I have duties that I must return to at the school, so I'll just put Hermione in your spare room upstairs, if that's alright?"_

_He nodded, and she swept from the room, her robes trailing behind and within a few minutes, Severus faintly heard the 'pop' of her apparating away. He'd almost forgotten about the child upstairs until he was startled by a frightened cry from upstairs and sullenly, Severus stood and followed the noise to its source, the girl, sitting up in the middle of the double bed and screaming, tears streaming down her face. Severus sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her sniffling and whimpering, having no idea what to do. "Why are you screaming so?"_

_She babbled some incoherent nonsense and crawled across the bed, finally plopping herself in his lap and gripping little fistfuls of his shirt, hiding her face against his chest and obscuring it with her absurdly bushy hair. _Uhh,_ he pondered to himself, _what in Merlin's name am I supposed to do?

_He finally settled on gently stroking her wild curls, hoping it would calm her, which, eventually, it did. Once her cries had mellowed to quiet sniffles, Severus slid a finger into said curls and tilted her head back to look at him, "Now," he tried to sound gentle and sincere, though he probably failed thoroughly, "What's the matter?"_

"_I want mummy…"_

_Severus sighed, "She's not here right now, Hermione."_

"_Daddy?"_

"_He and your mum are… on a little holiday, of sorts."_

"_Oh…" she wiped at her eyes, "Who you?"_

"_Severus… I'm going to be watching you for a bit while your parents are away." he didn't know why he couldn't just up and tell her that her parents were dead._

_When she absolutely failed at trying to wrap her three year old tongue around his name, Hermione gave up at trying to say the whole thing and smiled slowly, "Sevvie…"_

_He sighed again, but realized she wasn't going to manage more of his name than that, "Yes, Hermione, my name is Sevvie…"_

_She giggled and let him wipe the rest of the tears from her face before complaining she was hungry. With yet another sigh, he picked her up and headed downstairs to the kitchen where he proceeded to make pancakes for the two of them, not in the mood for anything more elaborate or dinner appropriate._

"What's got you in such a rare, fine mood?" Minerva laughed lightly, entering the room.

"Hmm? Oh, just reminiscing," he admitted, gaze still lost in the lines of the picture in his hand.

She crossed the room and stood behind him, looking over his shoulder, "'_To my Sevvie, Hermione_.' …She was so fond of you, Severus," she said softly, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder, "I was sort of sad when Abigail came back from Russia and took Hermione in… She always brought out your best qualities."

"I was sad to see her go too, but I'm sure it was for the best." Severus was quiet for a moment before he scoffed, "Imagine my surprise, seven years ago, when a bushy brown mass of curls and those accursed big brown eyes found their way under the Sorting Hat. It was like going back through time."

Minerva laughed again, "I think she maybe should have stayed with you. Then perhaps the students wouldn't find you such a snarky, greasy old git."

"I may be a snarky git, but I am _not_ greasy or old… I'm only thirty for Merlin sake!"

"To them, Severus, anyone past twenty is old."

He nodded, then looked up at his colleague, "You know, I never realized how much I missed the accursed nickname she gave me until tonight, when in typical Granger fashion, she came pestering me with her questions about why I was suddenly showing up in strange memories of hers."

"I came down to remind you that Albus wanted to talk to you before dinner and I have a stack of essays on my desk a mile high, so I best be off… Be careful, Severus, for both your sakes…"

"Pardon me?"

Minerva smiled cryptically and left the room, leaving Severus to return to his memories.

_He was pulling on his thick black robes, his silver mask staring up at him from the bed. He didn't like these nights. Hermione had been in bed for about an hour or so when his mark shot a bolt of burning electricity up his left arm and he winced and bit his tongue to keep his painful groan in his chest. He glared at the mask hatefully and it stared up at him placidly, mockingly._

_Severus snatched it up from the bed angrily and stormed out of his room, then paused halfway down the hall to take a deep, calming breath before slipping through Hermione's partially open door to check on her before he left to falsely pledge his loyalty to the damnable Dark Lord. She was sound asleep in the center of the big bed, her blankets kicked off at some point. He smiled fondly and pulled the covers back over her, then leaned over her tiny sleeping form, pushed a stray bit of wild hair out of her face and kissed her forehead gently. Severus looked over his shoulder at her again on his way out of the room, shaking his head at the strange way the infuriatingly adorable three year old made him act._

He sighed and slid the parchment back into its drawer and got up to go talk to Dumbledore about Merlin only knew what.

"Ah, Severus, my boy, do come in," Albus smiled infuriatingly. The man's constant jovial-ness frequently got on the Potions Master's nerves, but he had learned to bite his tongue when it came to how annoyed he got with Albus.

Severus shut the door sharply behind him and sat in the chair in front of the Headmaster's desk as instructed, "You wanted to see me, Albus?"

"I did, I did… I was wondering if you've been summoned lately."

He sighed heavily. This was the rubbish Dumbledore wanted to talk about? Ugh. "No, I haven't, but I expect the inside of my arm to feel like it's burst into flames in the next few days or so."

"Wonderful, wonderful."

"How is being summoned by the darkest wizard of our time to pledge my false loyalty to him wonderful?" he snapped.

"Severus, my boy, you play one of the most crucial roles in this whole war-"

"Tell me something I don't know,"

"-You should loosen up, boy, have some fun. You're only young once, you know."

Severus rolled his eyes and sighed, "I'm not young, Albus, but nor am I old. I'm a snarky, middle-aged git of a Potions Professor. My youth was spent in service to the Dark Lord, until you so 'freed' me, then I raised a little girl for three years before I started teaching at twenty-one."

"Oh stop being so cynical and pessimistic."

"Somehow I think I'd give most of the castle coronaries if I were to be anything other than cynical and pessimistic," he pondered that thought for a second before a nasty smirk pulled itself across his lips, "Then again… If all my students were to be incapacitated or dead-"

"Severus Snape!"

"I was only kidding, Albus. Loosen up and learn to take a joke," he knew he got away with that comment only because he'd just turned Dumbledore's own words against him.

The old wizard steepled his fingers and peered at Severus over his half-moon shaped glasses, "How are you, Severus?"

"Rather annoyed," he sighed and became almost wistful for a second, "And yet, in a cynical, pessimistic way, happy, I suppose…" As soon as it was said, the dungeon bat returned full force, "But mostly annoyed."

He received a chuckle for that and was dismissed with a casual nod, at which point, Severus pushed himself up and was followed out the door by his big, billowing robes, his student and former charge once more coming to mind.

"_Sevvie, are mummy and daddy gonna come home?" the little girl was lying on her stomach on the floor, coloring on a bit of parchment while he lounged comfortably in his chair in front of the fireplace, making corrections to his Potions book. His arm still ached from the previous nights' summons, mostly due to the fact that it was the fourth night in a row he'd been called to the Dark Lords' side._

"_I don't see why they wouldn't, Hermione."_

"_What if they don't?"_

_He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, then quickly wiped the obvious look of annoyance from his face as he tried to appease her, "Why wouldn't they? Why would they leave their…darling daughter with no intentions of coming back?"_

_She sighed too, clearly not understanding half of what he said, "I guess, Sevvie… Can I has a kitty?"_

"_**Have**__," he gently corrected, "'Can I __**have**__ a kitty?' …And I'll think about it."_

_She grinned. Her big brown eyes were practically glowing with her excitement at the prospect of getting a cat, for both Severus and Hermione knew that he'd cave and get her one the very next time they went to Diagon Alley. With that, she returned to her coloring, and he to his idle correcting. Severus was interrupted not but a few minutes later when Hermione gently nudged the large Potions book out of the way so she could climb up onto his lap, her drawing clutched in one of her hands._

"_Here," her grin lit up her face again as she held the parchment toward him eagerly, "I drawed this for you, Sevvie."_

_Severus couldn't help but smile back at her, correcting softly, "'__**Drew**__'… 'You __**drew**__ this for…'" he took a good look at the paper, not realizing he'd trailed off. It was easy enough to see what the picture was—him, more or less, lounged in his chair much as he was at the moment, one leg thrown carelessly over an arm and his long arms around a little girl who's bushy brown hair and dark eyes undoubtedly made her Hermione. And there, curled up by Severus' foot that rested on the floor, was a little brown-ish orange blob that he guessed to be the cat Hermione wanted; and in the corner were the words she had asked for his help to spell, _'To my Sevvie, Hermione.'

_She bounced in his lap excitedly, watching his blank face twist into a fond grin and when he finally looked over at her, Hermione's grin seemed to mirror the expression he felt on his own lips, "Do you like it Sevvie?"_

"_Yes," he nodded and pushed his fingers through her bushy curls, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, "I like it very much, Hermione… It's a very nice drawing." His praise made her grin all the bigger and he finally decided he wouldn't make her wait any longer, "What do you say we go down to Diagon Alley and get you that cat then, yeah?"_

"_Really?" Hermione squealed and practically leapt from his lap, running to the closet by the front door to get her shoes and coat, but she came barreling back, a bewildered look on her face when she heard a rare sound from Severus… His laughter._

"Blast it all," he growled, shoving Malfoy's essay away from him and rising from his desk. Severus couldn't focus for the life of him, every fiber of his mind wrapped around memories of those blasted three years with that blasted Granger. He heaved out a sigh and poured a generous helping of Firewhiskey into a glass, downing most of it in a single gulp, his throat burning pleasantly. "Why won't you leave my mind? Why, why, why?"

—X—

Hermione groaned and rubbed her temples painfully; she couldn't believe she was thinking it, but she could really use a drink. She'd just posted the announcement down in the common room of the masked ball the Headmaster was planning to 'end the year with a bang.' That man was truly off his rocker sometimes.

She detested the idea of getting all dressed up and 'flitting about the Great Hall'—as Lavender had put it—all night, but, as usual, she knew she'd end up going, whether by her own will or not. And unfortunately, Hermione knew for a fact that her plans of a nice relaxing weekend, curled up by the fireplace with Crookshanks reading, had just gone out the window. No doubt Lavender and most of the other girls she shared a dorm with would rope her into going to Hogsmede with them to go shopping for costumes.

"It's a complete waste of time, Crookshanks," she complained to her cat, scratching behind his ear gently. He was definitely getting on in years, as she'd had him since before Abigail had taken her in when she was little. After a few moments of quiet pondering, Hermione looked at her pet seriously, "…Did Sevv- Professor Snape give you to me, Crookshanks?"

She smiled softly when he meowed and rubbed his cheek against her fingertips, protesting the fact that she had stopped petting him, "I always knew there was a reason I liked him so much…"

—X—

_She couldn't keep the frown off her face, standing next to Dumbledore's young niece. Abigail was about Severus' age, with honey-brown hair and big blue eyes that held a motherly gleam. Hermione would be well cared for with the young witch, but Minerva had watched the bond between Severus and Hermione grow in the last three years and it was a bond she didn't want to see broken. However, between the young man beginning teaching within the next year and his frequent calls to not only meetings with Dumbledore and the rest of the Order, but the Dark Lord as well, he was in no position to be raising a young girl._

"_Something the matter, Professor?" Abigail asked politely, the two of them strolling down the street to the park Minerva knew Severus, Hermione and Hermione's cat, Crookshanks—a gift to the girl from Severus—had been frequenting the past few months when the weather was nice._

"_What? Oh, no. My mind is just on the duties awaiting me back at Hogwarts, is all. We're all quite busy this time of year, preparing for the beginning of the term." Minerva looked toward the big oak tree at the center of the park and there, lounging in the shade with his nose in a book, was Severus. Hermione, of course, was close by, playing in the sunshine with Crookshanks, "Ah, there they are, Abigail. Just as I suspected."_

"_Yes, I see them too… Does he ever stop reading?" she laughed as they approached the trio._

"_You'd be surprised how little I manage to read now a days, Abigail Keeves." Severus squinted up at them, slowly closing his book and rising to his feet. "It's mostly just an act, as of late, since my eyes are too occupied making sure Hermione doesn't get herself in trouble."_

_Abigail laughed again and knelt in the grass beside the little girl, "Hi Hermione, I'm Abigail."_

"_Hiya…" she looked up and smiled at Minerva, "Hi Auntie Min,"_

_She smiled back at the girl fondly, "Hello Hermione… I hope you've been behaving for Severus?"_

"_I've been very good, right Sevvie?"_

_He bent down and swept both Hermione and Crookshanks up in his arms, the girl propped on his hip and the cat held in the girl's tender hug, "She's been an angel, Minerva. The cat keeps her busy from sunrise 'til sunset."_

_Minerva's frown deepened at the obvious fondness Hermione and Severus shared and he frowned right back at her, knowing it was time to give up the little girl._

"_How would you like to come stay with me for a while, Hermione?" Abigail offered quickly, having caught on to the true meaning of Minerva's expression._

"_I don't know…"_

"_How 'bout it, 'Mione?" Severus prodded, adjusting his grip on the girl, preparing himself to hand her over, "I bet Abigail knows lots of fun games for you, her and Crookshanks to play together, yeah?"_

"_But I have plenty fun with you, Sevvie. Can't I stay with you?"_

_He sighed heavily and shook his head slowly, his long black hair flipping about his face, "Auntie Min needs my help for a while with some very important work… Abigail will take good care of you while I'm gone..."_

"_You'll come back though, right?" Hermione's big, pleading brown eyes were obviously breaking Severus' stone-encased heart._

_Severus pushed his fingers into the wild, bushy mass of Hermione's brown curls and kissed her forehead for a long moment before he looked at her, his eyes slightly glassy, "It might be a long time before I'm done, Hermione… but I'll visit you as much as I can, if you'd like?"_

_She nodded solemnly and even Minerva could tell that the five year old didn't believe a word of Severus' barefaced lie. Abigail cleared her throat and Severus jumped ever so slightly before kissing Hermione's forehead again and hugging her._

"_I'm gonna miss you, Sevvie."_

"_I'll miss you too, Hermione…" with that, he handed both Hermione and Crookshanks into Abigail's awaiting arms, looked at the former for a long second before his face hardened into a familiar scowl and he apparated away. Severus would be stone drunk for the next three days._

She would adamantly deny having anything to do with the incident, but at the masked ball just before the term ended, Minerva watched with a fond, almost motherly smile when they met at the center of the dance floor. He was dressed—as usual—in his customary all black attire, a simple black mask covering his eyes and nose and she had yet again surprised the Transfigurations Professor with the beautiful young woman who insisted on hiding behind the know-it-all Gryffindor Princess by wearing a silver mask with pluming black feathers and a slightly risqué black and white dress, what with the slit that ran along her left leg to her mid-upper thigh, leaving most of both legs revealed in the wide gap made possible by the full, gathered flounce of dress/train that followed her, leading up to the simple, strapless bodice. Her hands and most of her arms were sheathed in white silk gloves and a pair of long, dangling silver earrings dripped over her bare shoulders with her surprisingly tamed brown curls that seemed more like shimmering, cascading water against her creamy complexion.

From her vantage point, she watched him hold up a hand and though she couldn't see nor hear his words form the question, knew he'd asked her to dance, a feat that seemed daunting considering the heels the young woman had slipped her feet into, but none the less, the girl accepted confidently by grasping his hand and giving an albeit silly, formal curtsy, before allowing his arm to wrap around her waist and lead her around the dance floor.

The pair looked simply radiant together, as though they'd danced to this tune countless times before… In a way they had. Minerva could remember walking into his house one day, more than twelve years ago, to hear humming coming from the living room and when she peaked around the corner, had seen the young woman—a girl of no more than four at the time—swept up in his arms and being spun around the room, his strong voice humming the waltz to which they now danced.

She stood by her assessment that the girl was good for him and she saw the obvious fondness again for the first time since they'd been separated those long years ago. Minerva couldn't blame them falling in love and now that she was graduating Hogwarts there was nothing stopping them from exploring the feelings they had for one another.

Something about their bond seemed right—it always had… Hermione had always brought out the best in Severus. Always.


End file.
